Cribbing



EQ@ 3Q?? w30. J. s. HUNTQON GRIBBING Original Filed Nov. l, 1926 2 Sheeis-Shee l Patented Dec. 30, 1930 igienica FSFE@ Ev rATsN'r JoIIN s. IrUN'rooN, or DETROIT, MICHIGAN, AssIGNo'Ii To Messier' CNeRnTn ruoli: 'cors CoaroRArIoN, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION or' VIRGINIA CRIBBING Original application filed November 1, 1926, Serial No. 145,392. Divided and this application filed `Tuly My invention relates to improved cribbing for use in constructing retaining walls such as are used in connection with fills and embankments of railways.

The cribbing of the present invention consists of a few dissimilar parts and may be manufactured at a central point and transported to the position where the retaining wall is to be constructed and the construction of the retaining wall may be accomplished by a minimum number of relatively unskilled workmen. In the cribbings of the prior art it has been customary to provide a pluralityl of irregular shapes of headers and stretchers which are' laid alternately upon each other in transverse relation., thereby building up a framework of cribbing having a forward wall, a pluralityV of backwardly extending walls and in most cases a plurality of walls parallel to the said forward wall.

One of the objects of my invention is to provide a cribbing constructed of stretchers of simple rectangular form and headers cooperating therewith to hold said stretchers and headers by means of their own weight and the weight of the superposed structure.

Another object of my invention is to provide a cribbing structure in which the respective headers are supported by the adj acent stretchers and which headers have, in addition, cooperating surfaces adapted to support and sustain the load in the event of failure of said stretchers.

Another object of my invention is the provision of a plurality of cribbing members having a plurality of supporting surfaces at different levels, which can be manufactured without fine or exact work in spac ing said supporting surfaces.

Another object of my invention is to provide header members capable of cooperating with stretchers to hold the same in position and having plane lateral surfaces so that a plurality of said header members may be placed side by side, all supporting a lesser number of header members piled in cribbing relation above them.

Another object of my invention is the provision of cribbing having simple rectangular stretchers and headers of a second shape ca- Seral No. $394,070.

pable of being combined to forni a cribbing in which the header walls may be graduated in thickness, increasing toward the bottom to provide an adequate support for the increased load at the bottom.

Gther objectsand advantages of my invention will appear more fully from the fol lowing description and the accompanying drawings in which similar characters of reference indicate similar parts throughout the several views.

The present application is a ydivision of my co-pending application, Serial No. 145,392q filed November 1, 1926, upon cribbing, and this application is particularly concerned with the `'modified form of cribbing shown in Figs. 5 and 6 of said prior application.

Referring to the drawings, of which there are two sheets;

Y Fig. 1 is a view in perspective of one of my headers showing parts of stretchers in dotted lines; f

Fig. 2 is a view in perspective of the stretcher employed in my cribbing;

Fig. 3 is a front elevational view of a f cribbing constructed according to the present invention; and

Fig. 4 is a side sectional viewtaken on the lined-415 of Fig. 3.

Referring to Fig. 1, 10 indicates in its entirety my stretcher which is preferably constructed by lcasting the same of concrete in appropriate forms, and the header may be provided with reinforcing members of steel or cast iron in the usual manner.

Referring to Fig. 4L, ll illustrates one form of reinforcing member comprising one or more steel rods yembedded in the header and extending lengthwise thereof, adjacent the upper and lower surfaces. 12 indicates one of the reinforcing members employed for reinforcing the upwardly extending leg 13 and the downwardly extending leg 14, and the reinforcingmember 12 mayV consist of a rod having two parallel portions y15 and 16 f joined by a diagonal portion 17. Two of these substantially Z-shaped reinforcing members 12 are preferably arranged as shown in Fig. t atea'ch end of the header.

The header 10 is preferably constructed ico with substantially plane sides in order that the forms in which the concrete is cast may be relatively simple in shape and construction, and the header lconsists of a main body portion 18 of substantially.rectangular cross-section.

At each end of the body portion 18, the header is provid-ed with an upwardly extending leg 13 and a downwardly extending leg 14 for the purpose of engagement with adjacent stretchers, maintaining the assembled cribbing members in proper relation and for providing a reserve supporting surface in case of failure of any of th-e other parts of the cribbing.

I desire it to be understood, however, that either one of these advantages may be realized separately by constructing the cribbing with this end in view, and I do not wish to be limited to a cribbing in which the reserve surfaces are used.

In th-e present embodiment, the upwardly extending legs 13 are located at the extreme ends of the header, while the downwardly extending legs 14 are located intermediate the ends of the header, but it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the terms upwardly and downwardly are merely relative, and the cribbing could be constructed within the scope of this invention as well with the legs 13 extending downward and the legs 14 extending upward. It is also immaterial whether both legs 13 at the extreme ends extend in the same direction, and the cribbing might also be constructed within the scope of my invention by having the outermost legs or shoulders 13 extending in opposite directions upwardly and downwardly, respectively, and

the inner legs or shoulders 14 likewise projecting in opposite directions fromthe main body portion 18.

' The outer legs 13 are preferably rectangu-r lar in cross section, projecting upward from the main body portion 18 of the header at substantially right angles thereto, forming an inner flat surface 19 which is adapted to engage the outside of the ends of the stretchers 2O for limiting movement of the stretchers endwise of said headers. The length of the legs 13 may vary according to the results sought to be accomplished, but I prefer to make the legs 13 of slightly less length than the depth of the stretchers 2O which are to be placed upon said headers. Thus the upper surfaces 21 of the legs 13 are slightly below the parallel upper surfaces 22 of the stretchers which restv upon the main body portion 18. The reason for this construction will appear more clearly as the description progresses. Y

The downwardly extending legs 14 are likewise preferably co-extensive in width, with the main body portion 18 of the header so that the sides 22 present a substantially iat surface and the legs 14 are provided with outer surfaces 23 at substantially right angles to the main body portion 18 for engagement with adjacent stretchers 2O to limit the inward movement of said stretchers when in assembled relation. The strength of the downwardly extending legs 14 is considerably increased by forming the inside surface 24 at an angle to the main body portion 18 so that the legs 14 taper in thickness from the bottom25 of the leg 14 to the place where the leg joins the main body portion 18. The

legs 14 may likewise be made of various' lengths, depending upon the results sought to be accomplished, but I prefer to make the legs 14 of a length slightly less than the depth of the corresponding stretchers 2O upon which the header 18 rests, so that the bottom surface 25 of the legs 14 does not quite reach the plane of the bottom surface 26 of the adjacent stretcher 2O.

The upwardly extending legs 13 and downwardly extending legs 14are offset from each other longitudinally of the main body portion 18, by a distance which is equal to the width of the stretchers 20 in such manner that a stretcher 2O which is disposed below the header against the surface 23, is substantially in vertical alignment with another stretcher 2O disposed above the header 10 against the surface 19.

Referring to 2, 20 indicates my novel stretcher which consists of a member having plane rectangular sides 26, 27, 28 and 29. The stretcher is likewise constructed of concrete, cast in appropriate forms, and in order to simplify the laying of the cribbing, the stretcher may be substantially square in Cross section. By forming the stretcher Vsquare in cross section, as distinguished from a stretcher which has a greater depth than width, or vice versa, it is impossible, in the building of the cribbing, to lay the stretcher upon the wrong side and the construction of cribbing is thereby greatly simplified, which is an important feature as this work is generally done by low priced labor. The stretchers may be of any convenient length.

Referring to Figs. 3 and 4, these are diagrammatic illustrations of one mode of assembling the headers 10 and stretchers 2O to form a concrete cribbing for maintaining an embankment 30 for a railroad 31 or for any other purpose. The base of the cribbing is preferably provided witha small concrete foundation 32 having an upper surface 33 shaped to receive the lower surfaces of the lowermost headers 10 and arranged so that header 10 will slope downward toward the back, so that the front face 34 of the cribbing will beat a slight angle to the vertical.

A plurality of stretchers 20are first laid CTI substantially parallel to the foundation 82 and spaced therefrom a suflicient distance so that the stretchersV will be engaged by the surface 23 on the downwardly extending leg 14. A plurality of headers may then be laid upon the foundation 39. and upon the stretchers 2O in transverse relation, the headers 10 being preferably located at substantially right angles to the stretchers 20, and at the ends of the stretchers 2U, so that each header 10 rests upon both the stretchers at the joint between them. If desired, however, it is possible to use additional headers in between the lengths of stretchers in the same manner.

If the cribbing is to be widcr than the length of one header, a second tier of headers 10a may be laid upon the stretchers 20 and the stretchers a which are disposed parallel thereto, but in such case it should be noted that the headers 10a will necessarily be arranged offset from the headers 10 longitudinally of the stretchers 20, and the headers 10awill not rest upon the stretchers 2O at their joints. The header-S10@ may, however, rest upon the stretchers 20a at the joints of the stretchers 20a. Other tiers of headers 10h and stretchers 20c may be added in a similar manner, and it will be observed that the cribbing may be made as wide as desired by simply providing` additional stretchers and headers, the forward ends of the additional headers resting upon the same stretchers used to support the rear ends of the adjacent tier located in front of said headers.

The remainder of the cribbing is built up by alternately and transversely piling stretchers and headers substantially as shown in Fig. 4, each header having an upwardly extending leg on one side of the stretchers above it and a downwardly extending leg upon the opposite side of the stretcher' below it.

lt will thus be observed that each stretcher 20 is adapted to be fitted between the npwardly extending shoulder 13 on one header and a downwardly extending shoulder 14 of an adjacent header, the stretchers being conlined against either outward or inward movement when in assembled relation with the headers as shown in Fig. 4. rlhe stretchers are all aligned one above another when so assembled, forming stretcher-walls which are maintained in proper position by the legs 18 and 14, and the weight of the assembled stretchers and headers, and likewise the for,-

ward ends of the headers 10 may be aligned, the headers forming header walls which extend substantially vertically, and which are maintained in position by the weight of the assembled headers and stretchers.

When it is desired to utilize the end surfaces 21 and 25 of the legs 13 and 14, respectively, as bearing surfaces, it will be observed that the three-point bearing or supporting surface would be provided between adjacent headers and stretchers, viz.: the point of contact between the two headers in front of the stretcher, the points of contact between the header, stretcher and header, and the point of contact between the two headers behind the stretchers. It is practically iinpossible, in casting such concrete headers, to secure an accurate alignment and spacing of three separate bearing surfaces so that the headers will restv upon each other at all of the points of contact described, and so that they will also rest upon the stretchers 10 with an equal portion of the weight. Furthermore, when such cribbing structures are built to extraordinary heights, the load upon the transverse stretchers 10 at the bottoni of the cribbing may become so great that the stretchers are crushed or otherwise fail to support the load.

ln order to provide a reserve supporting surface between adjacent headers, which is adapted to sustain the cribbing in the event of the failure of the stretchers, I prefer to make the legs or shoulders 13 and 14 of slightly less length than the depth of the adjacent stretchers, leaving a very slight crack or clearance between said legs and the adj acent lieaders, as shown at 35, 36, 37 and 38, and other corresponding points in the additional tiers. In case of. the failure of the transverse stretchers 2O or the compression of the stretchers 2O by an excessive load, the surfaces 21 and 25 of the header legs 13 and 14 will come into Contact with the adjacent upper and lower headers to support the load. At the same time it is not necessary to provide for the accurate and true spacing and alignment of the surfaces 21 and 25 with respect to the depth of the stretchers 20, since it is not Vnecessary in my invention that these surfaces must fit together without play.

It will thus be observed that my headers may be so constructed as to provide a reserve supporting surface, but this feature of the invention need not be presentin every embodiment of my invention.

Referring to Fig. 3, which is a front elevational view of my cribbing, it will be observed that the header walls may be graduated in thickness from the bottoni of the cribbing toward the top when my headers and stretchers are employed, thereby providing a cribbing of much greater strength which is graduated in the amount of bearing surface according` to the amount of weight to be sustained at that point in the cribbing. For this purpose, the lower section 39 of the cribbing may be formed with a header wall 'section` 40 of increased thickness, consisting of a plurality of headers laid side by side with the flat sides 22 of the headers against each other. The next section 41 of the cribbing may be provided with a header wall 42 of less thickness, having one less thickness of header the headers of this section being arranged centrally above the header walltO with broken joints at the intersection between these two sections. The next section d3 of the cribbing may have still one less thickness of headers in its header wall 44, and so on until the uppermost portion of the header wall merely has a thickness of one header.

Vhile I have illustrated a header wall having three sections of three different thick- Cal nesses, it will be understood that any member of sections may be employed to build cribbings of greater height and likewise the sections may differ in thickness by more than one header. Y

It will thus be observed that I have provided a simple form of header having piane sides so that the headers may be placed flatly against each other, forming a wall of any thickness desired.

My concrete cribbing is thus constructed of stretchers of the simplest form' which may be cast in forms, the construction of which involves but very little labor. My headers are also economically manufactured, and they are adapted to Vmaintain the back stretchers as well the-the front stretchers from lateral movement in either direction.

If it is not desired to maintain certain stretchers against inward thrust, one or the other of the legs 14 may be omitted, but I prefer to maintain all stretchers against lateral thrust in either direction.

While I have illustrated a preferred embodiment of my invention, many modifications may be made without departing` from spirit of the invention, and I do not wish to be limited to the'piecise details of construction set forth, but desire to avail myself of all changes within the scope of the appended claims. y

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

' 1. In a cribbing, a plurality of stretchers of one shape, and a plurality of transverse headers of a second shape, piled alternately upon each other to form said cribbing, said headers having plane sioes and a plurality of headers being placed side by side at the base of a header wall, a lesser number of headers supported upon all of the first named headers, to graduate the header Wallin thickness from the bottom to top.

2. In a cribbing, the combination'of a plurality of headers and stretchers arranged transversely and alternately upon each other to form a cribbing, said stretchers comprising members having plane rectangular sides and said headers having an upwardly extending leg at each end and a downwardly extending leg at each end for engagement with stretchers of two diderent stretcher walls, a plurality of said headers being placed side by side at the base of a header wall, and a lesser number of headers being supported upon all the lower headers to provide a header wall graduated in thickness from the bottom to the top.

3. In a cribbing, a header of substantially rectangular cross section having an upwardly extending leg at each end and a downwardly extending leg at each end for engagement with stretchers arranged below and above said header, stretchers arranged transversely to said header, above and below said header, and a similar header below said stretchers, said stretchers being confined between the legs of the two headers, and said headers being arranged side by side in series of header sections of thickness decreasing toward the top ofthe header wall.

4. In a .cribbingg the combination of a header wall comprising a plurality of headers having upwardly and downwardly extending legs at ends of said headers, a plurality of said hearlers being laid `eide by side, and said wall decreasing in thickness toward the top, with a plurality' of stretchers confined between said legs on said headers and supporting said headers.

5. In a concrete cribbing, the combina-tion of a plurality of headers and stretchers laid alternately and transversely upon each other, said stretchers comprising members having a rectangular cross section and substantially plane rectangular sides, said headers having integral legs projecting from the main body portion at each end for engaging outside adjacent stretchers, and said headers each having a lug disposed at one end on the opposite side from said projecting leg at saidend, said lug being offset from the inner surface of said leg by a distance equal to substantially the thickness of a stretcher whereby said lug and latter leg` maintain a stretcher between them against lateral thrust in either direction, said headers being arranged to form a wall decreasing in thickness toward the top, comprising a number of wall sections each centrally located on the lower wall section, and eac-h section having a lesser number of headers side by side.

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this 13 day of July, 1928.

' JOHN S. HUNTOON. 

